Sphinx Box
by Delima Rose
Summary: Tabitha Adams thinks that she's an ordinary teenage misfit- until she escapes the clutches of the school bully by running up a ten story building, she realizes that she's anything but ordinary. OC r&R please give it a chance
1. Prologue

**Disclaimer: I do not own Harry Potter, unfortunately I'm not Jk. Rowling either :(**

**The next generation:**

Tabitha Chronicles

**Prologue**

Somewhere in the moody weathered Country of Australia, a young girl is born in a dirty old motel. The father of the child stood right by the window as though looking out for any intruders. The red head midwife grabbed a hold of a sanitized medical scissors and cut the child's umbilical cord. She wrapped the baby in a clean cherry cloth and handed her to her mother.

"There, there now my child" the mother cooed in happiness as the little baby girl cried. She smiled as she looked to her husband, then back at the baby.

It was unfortunate that the baby couldn't be born in a much better time. Weapons of mass destruction may not be heard, but the world was far from peaceful as another type of evil had broken loose.

Sally Windsor and Robert Windsor had wanted to start a new life away from the world they had come to know, so they came up with changing their whole identity. For a while it had worked.

Sally Adams and Robert Adams lived in harmony for a few months. But like any good things; it didn't last. Word traveled fast, and families who tried to change their identities started to get caught. At the time, Sally already knew that she was pregnant. So Robert and Sally decided to go on a run. Changing locations every now and then until it brought them to the very moment their baby girl was born.

The world Sally and Robert knew was being seized, and anyone who resisted got exterminated or thrown to a prison where the warden literally gives its prisoners the kiss of death. It's worst for the two expecting parents since they were for a fact resistance to the one who cannot be named.

Robert looked lovingly to his wife, moving away from the window. He looked at his baby girl and smiled. She was beautiful. Her small fingers were rolled up as she thrashed about. She looked so delicate and the thought of her getting hurt sent Robert's heart reeling.

"We have to move Sally" he said seriously, beginning to pack all of their belongings. He took a whole load of cash out of his bag and threw it at the confused midwife.

"No! You can't go yet! She needs to rest!" the midwife said, enraged. But to her annoyance, the man wasn't listening at all. He continued hastily packing everything as though she wasn't even in the room. The midwife looked at the money he gave her. Her eyes grew big as she realized that he had over paid her. By the looks of things, it looked like there was at least ten grand in that stash. Her eyebrows furrowed as she realized that even the woman was starting to get up.

This was clearly an outrage!

Melanie Jacobs had been very surprised indeed when the man and the woman had shown up in her doorstep, asking for her assistance. Somehow these two eccentric couple had known that she was a midwife despite the fact that she was a complete stranger.

Melanie took one look at the pregnant woman and knew that she was in labor. The young woman's face was flushed red, her dark curly hair stuck to her nape due to sweat. Melanie had thought about turning them down, but the terrified look in the girl's unusual electric blue eyes had gotten to her.

Melanie stuck with the woman for nine whole hours, all the while keeping a close watch on the husband who looked far too anxious.

The thought that perhaps the couple was fugitives from the law had crossed her mind in the beginning when they dragged her all the way to the motel right across the street. She had suggested the woman have her baby born in her house, but the man refused, mumbling about explosions, and not wanting to pay for the damages once the ministry caught up with them.

Melanie now watched as the woman took the baby in one hand, while holding on to her bag. The woman looked at her husband and nodded. "Were ready to go when you are" she said solemnly, still looking exhausted. That's when Melanie snapped.

"There is no way you guys are leaving! You just had a baby! And that child can't handle stress right now-" Melanie started, but the man turned towards her.

"We are forever indebted to you, Melanie Jacobs. But we must go before they come. And I suggest that you do too" the man said kindly, his dark eyes boring in to Melanie, robbing her of speech.

_He was beautiful, _Melanie thought to herself. Come to think of it, the couple was a handsome pair. He walked towards his wife, and kissed the baby's forehead.

"I'm sorry you had to be born in such a bad time Tabitha…" the man said before laying his hands on his wife's shoulders. The woman looked lovingly up at the man, then to Melanie.

"Thank you for everything Melanie" the woman said in a frail voice, looking at Melanie tiredly. Melanie gaped at the two of them; she didn't remember telling them her name.

A second later there was a _poof!_-ing sound, and the couple disappeared in thin air without a trace.

Melanie stood there for a few moments, her heart beating so fast. She ran out of the room, and quickly down the stairs. She let herself inside her house across the street, went to bed and never mentioned her experience to anybody else.

**note:** This is my first crack at a harry potter fanfic. I hope you guys don't crucify me. i mean, its okay right? The story I mean? Never mind, I'm going to go and watch TV


	2. Chapter 1 Changing Skin

**Disclaimer: Harry Potter was born because of J.K Rowling, therefore we all owe her a big hug and some chocolates. **

**Unless you don't speak retardo dialect, thats pretty much me saying 'I don't own harry potter'**

**CHAPTER 1**

**Changing Skin**

143 Ridgeback Drive seems to be melting in to the background as a girl with long dark brown hair looks impatiently up and down the deserted street. She fidgeted with her fingers as she anxiously waited for her bus to come. She hated the weather in the outer suburbs of Melbourne Australia. The weather forecast had said that the day would be another gloomy day, but to Tabitha Adams's surprise, the sun was out. The strip that she had to walk between her house and the bus stop had got her feeling like she was walking inside a furnace.

She was beginning to sweat, and the fact that her 405 bus was late didn't help the situation. Her heart was beating at an abnormally fast rate because today was her first day back in the semester. Every semester she would vow to herself that she would finally make friends with Alicia Bryan and all of her popular friends, but somehow things never turned out the way she planned.

The harder she tried to fit in, the more her classmates seemed to pull away. She always wondered why. She would ask her mother, but her mother would always say the same thing over and over again. 'They just don't see what your father and I see, your beauty' Sally Adams would muse to Tabitha, and for some reason, it would make her feel better. But it has always been like that with Tabitha. That's why she has never had any proper friends despite her unusual beauty.

Kids often steered away from her which Tabitha didn't get. But that was during pre-school. But as soon as she hit high school, Tabitha didn't just become a loner, she was cast away as a misfit. It seems teenagers found a new way of pulling away, and this time it was meaner.

At first it started as snide remarks about her, then to full insults in her face. But for some reason, Tabitha never seemed to mind that her self esteem was being trampled all over. All she wanted was to fit in. So she tried to get inside Alicia Bryan's circle of friends, but it seems Alicia only calls upon Tabitha when it comes to wanting help with her math homework. Wanting help means Tabitha does everything while Alicia takes all the credit.

This time Tabitha would try to be friends with Alicia again by proving that she's got all the personality. Tabitha snorted to herself, _that's never going to work, especially now that I'm starting to stink, stupid sun! _She thought bitterly. Tabitha impatiently tapped her foot on to the pavement, until she fell in to one of her favorite day dreams. In her daydream, she's not Tabitha the awkward girl, but a young woman with a lot of friends. In her daydream, she was in a completely different skin. She had a grandfather, and a grandmother; something that Tabitha had missed out on since both of her grandparents from her father and mother's side were all dead, and unfortunately both Sally and Robert Adams were the only children. So Tabitha couldn't even have the luxury of having cousins.

Tabitha was further slipping away in her daydream when she heard the bus approaching. She hastily got up and hailed the bus, knowing fully well that if she doesn't, the driver would just past her by without hesitation.

She saw that the bus was packed with students from her school. The door opened and the bus driver didn't even bother to look at her.

"Full day concession please" she muttered. The driver reached out for a full day concession and handed it to Tabitha. She reached in to her breast pocket and groaned when she realized she only had a fifty dollar note. She hesitatingly passed the note to the driver. He stared at the note, then at Tabitha. His expression was murderous. He grunted and gestured for her to go on and sit.

Tabitha guiltily trudged towards one of the empty seats, feeling utterly guilty. The man began driving before Tabitha could even sit down. When the bus lurched forward, Tabitha lost her balance and fell to the ground.

All of the younger kids laughed hysterically at Tabitha's clumsiness, while a lovely old man tried to help her up. Tabitha's face was red as a tomato.

"Thank you" she said embarrassedly at the old man. The old man smiled knowingly. Tabitha was taken aback when she noticed that the man wasn't old at all. He looked to be at his forty's with shocking blue eyes. His silver hair only made him look younger.

Tabitha stared at his get up. He was wearing a purple vest over a white shirt. She noticed that he had so many badges on his vest. He was also wearing an enormous coat the shocking color of metallic blue, which was pretty weird considering it was at least forty degrees inside the bus.

Tabitha realized that she was staring too much. She decided to look out the window and resisted the urge to look at the surreal man some more. Despite not seeing him, Tabitha could have sworn that the man had kept staring at her all through out her bus journey to Haileybury Secondary College.

* * *

**x-x-x**

* * *

Tabitha jumped out of the bus, and pushed through the crowd earnestly. The man had gotten off the same stop as her, but she couldn't see him anywhere else. She reached inside her back up stopping in front of the gate. She took out her school blazer, polishing some lint off of it before putting it on. She groaned to herself. The black blazer was a compulsory part of the school uniform, which Tabitha deeply resented. The blazer acted as a warm blanket during winter, however during summertime, it was more like a torture blanket.

The heat was ridiculously obvious as Tabitha looked up. The vision in front of her was waving, making the school logo look like its moving. Tabitha wiped sweat from her brow. She couldn't shake the feeling that she was being watched. She looked behind her at the bus stop, but there was no one in there except for a raven.

Tabitha was about to walk away when she realized that raven's didn't come around Kilsythe until autumn. She looked back mystified only to find that the bird in question was no where to be found.

She shook her head and walked off towards the location of her locker bay. She shook off thoughts about the bird, and stopped acting paranoid all together. She had English first thing in the morning and she was already running late.

She ran straight for her locker bay, turning the dial on her lock, quickly dispatching her stuff. She grabbed her copy of the required text 'The gathering' by Isobelle Carmody, and her holiday homework essay on the book.

She ran towards the portable buildings in the back of the school since half of the classrooms were being renovated. When she arrived, she noticed that everybody had gone inside the classroom. She took a deep breath, and walked right in. It was as though she was invisible. Only one person noticed she was even there, and that was Alicia Bryan. Alicia took one look at Tabitha's sweaty face and she snorted. She elbowed her girlfriends and all of them looked at Tabitha.

Tabitha smiled at all of them, heading for the empty table right next to Alicia. But Alicia dumped her pencil case there. She gave Tabitha a small smile, "Sorry babe, but this seat is reserved for Charmaine" she said, smiling. One of the girls looked at Alicia confusingly.

"I thought Charmaine left-" she started, but Alicia elbowed her. Alicia turned to Tabitha once again. "Sorry sweetie, why don't you sit next to Drippy John over there" she said perkily, pointing at the far corner where John Livestock was sleeping on the desk. _Dripping is a much more appropriate word for that, _Tabitha thought to herself. She gave Alicia a bright smile.

"Sure…" she said pleasantly. Tabitha sat down next to John, trying to ignore the saliva dripping on the side of his face.

Tabitha took a moment to look around the room. She looked at the same de bono hats posters, and the inspirational reminders on the wall; Just the same old room.

Weirdly enough room P10 had been her English room for the past three years that she's been in her high school, and every year she had vowed that she would finally make a proper friend. But no such luck. All of the popular kids made fun of her, while all of the nerdy kids felt obliged to just ignore her because they weren't doing that great in the social ladder either.

The last three years she had been daydreaming in the same room. Every time her imagination seemed to go beyond the ordinary. If she wasn't dreaming of having friends, her day dreams were often about living in a castle in the middle of the lake, or riding a strange old fashion train with people her own age wearing black cloaks. Unlike any normal girls who daydreamed about princesses and being rescued by princes, Tabitha dreamt of playing soccer while levitating a few feet up in the air on a broomstick. And right at that very moment when Mrs. Walker was discussing the latest homework, Tabitha was daydreaming about how it would feel like to change her skin. Except this time around, she imagined being a shape shifter.

There was a squawk outside the window as two cockatoos landed on the pavement. Tabitha looked out the window momentarily, her eyes landing on a silver haired man. Tabitha looked away until she realized that the silver haired man was the same one as the one who had helped her up inside the bus. Tabitha looked out the window again, but there were only two cockatoos, and a raven on the same spot where she could have sworn she saw the man was standing before. Tabitha shook her head. _Again with the raven! You're just tired, _She reasoned with herself.

Tabitha decided to bury her head with thoughts of the English text before she drove herself mad. She opened 'The gathering' and started jotting down quotes that could come in handy later on.

**x-x-x**

Tabitha lined up patiently at the cafeteria, tolerantly waiting her turn. She had forgotten to pack lunch once again, and Sally would never forgive her if she skipped a meal. There were only three people in front of Tabitha and at least ten people behind her. She only had to smell the chips, and her mouth began to water.

She stood there staring at the ceiling, trying to block out a little year 7 girls' whining when the pushing and shoving started behind her. Somebody from the back shoved, causing Tabitha to topple on to the girl in front of her. Unfortunately it was the school bully. Jenna looked at Tabitha, her face a picture of murder.

"What do you think you're doing loser?!" she said, making Tabitha jump. Jenna shoved her hard, but Tabitha stayed put.

She had no idea what she was doing, but the next second she was opening her mouth and narrowing her eyes at Jenna, bone crushing pain that may happen completely ignored. "Stop pushing me, you fat lump!" she squeaked. The whole cafeteria fell quiet. Jenna turned an ugly shade of purple as she stared at Tabitha.

"What did you say you little bitch?!" Jenna yelled. The pubescent boys began chanting _Cat fight! Cat fight! _While Tabitha came to the realization of how screwed she was. To Tabitha, Jenna looked like a bull about to pounce on a matador.

She turned on her heel and pushed through the crowd. As soon as she was untangled from the line, she began sprinting towards the back buildings. She didn't dare turn around because she knew that Jenna was hot on her trail. She kept running, turning on to a little alley where she met a dead end.

Panicking, she looked around the small alley where there were a lot of timber and tools, and broken up blocks of cement, extra left over from the new buildings being built in the campus. The small alley smelt of dried cement. She looked hopelessly around for a hiding place, but found nothing. There was nothing there but a brick building that went up ten stories high. She jumped when she heard Jenna.

"Come out, come out wherever you are little mouse…I swear I won't hurt you…" Jenna's rough voice called out. She was only around the bend. Tabitha's heart went haywire as she tried to hide behind the sack of cement which was a bad idea since it couldn't even cover half of her body.

She got up and looked around desperately, and then when she gave up, she started thinking up excuses for the bruises she was probably going to get once Jenna was done with her.

Tabitha looked back and heard more footsteps.

_Great! Everybody in Haileybury is going to witness my demise! _She thought, panicked. Her heart was beating a crazy rhythm. As soon as she knew that Jenna was only a few steps away from the alley, her heart gave out. Without thinking, Tabitha did a run up towards the brick wall. She closed her eyes, she didn't know what she was trying to accomplish, but when she opened her eyes, it was definitely not what she was expecting. Maybe she had passed out from the impact because she was definitely dreaming; Because Tabitha Adams was standing on the rooftop of the ten story building.

She stood by the ledge of the building and looked down at the alley way where Jenna and a few confused looking students were looking for Tabitha.

A blonde year eight student looked up and gasped. "There she is!" she exclaimed, pointing up at the building.

"How the hell did she get up there?" Jenna yelled out.

"Good question…" Tabitha whispered to herself.

* * *

**x-x-x**

* * *

The waiting room outside the principal's office was air-conditioned. The cold air blew pleasantly. However, Tabitha couldn't enjoy it. Her anxiety was making her sweat too much.

She got called up in the principal's office for climbing the old art building, even though technically she had no idea how she got up there. But Mr. Fraser wouldn't believe a word Tabitha said. As she tried to reason with the principal, her agitation went up, and when it was about to hit its peak, the strangest thing happened; the glass of water Mr. Fraser was holding shattered to pieces, prompting him to swear in front of a student.

He sent the seething Tabitha outside, while he called up her parents.

Tabitha had been sitting on the soft plush sofa for ten minutes when Mr. Fraser came back, holding the phone. He handed the phone to her and mouthed 'Your mother wants to speak to you' he watched Tabitha like a hawk while the girl spoke to her estranged mother.

"Hello? Tabitha? You there?" Sally called out from the other line. Tabitha shook her head impatiently.

"Yeah, I'm here" she replied unenthusiastically.

"What happened?" her mother asked worriedly. "Tell me what happened exactly" Sally said carefully. So Tabitha started telling her mother everything from the beginning; starting from the shoving in the cafeteria, to being chased by a bully, until the surreal detail about climbing the ten story building. All the while her mother kept quiet, mumbling something every now and then Tabitha could never comprehend.

When she was done with her sorry tale, her mother told her to give the phone back to the principal. Tabitha handed the phone to Mr. Fraser hesitatingly. He looked far too smug for her liking. He took the phone and his smile turned to a frown.

"But-" he said incredulously. Tabitha could hear her mother's rambling on the phone, but she couldn't make out what her mother was saying. But whatever it was, Mr. Fraser stayed quiet, mostly because he couldn't get a word in edgewise. Then he looked down at the phone, and then at Tabitha.

"Your mother just hung up on me" he said, stunned. He stood there for a few moments. Tabitha waited patiently, looking at him in an annoyed fashion.  
"Well, your mother said that you ought to come home" he said, unsatisfied. I was beginning to think that he was a sadist.

"Your mother said to leave you to her" he said, his face brightening up slightly. Then his expression turned sour.

"I hope you realize that climbing buildings like that will not be tolerated in this school" he said roughly. Tabitha stared at him in disbelief.

"Does it matter that I almost got my ass kicked today by a bully?" Tabitha asked sarcastically. Mr. Fraser frowned and narrowed his eyes.

"Get out of here before I changed my mind!" he barked. Tabitha hastily got up, feeling angry about everything.

She stormed towards her locker and retrieved her school bag. She took off the blazer and stuffed it inside her backpack. She was muttering to herself as she passed a few classrooms where the students got up and pointed at her as though she was some circus clown. She reached the school entrance and headed straight for the bus stop.

She dumped her heavy bag on the floor, stamping towards the bus schedule. The next bus was in five minutes. She went back to the bench sat down. Staring blankly at the busy street, trying to find some sense on what had happened during lunch time. But every time she tried to find an explanation, she ended up getting a headache. She shook her head and tried to focus on something else.

A few moments later, Tabitha couldn't help the creeping sensation that she was being watched. She turned and looked behind her seat. All she could see was the wall through the see through glass. She began to ease up a little bit, until she noticed the raven up on the wall. Tabitha shivered as she noticed the stillness the raven exuded. The bird was perched on the wall that blocked out the main building of the school. For a minute Tabitha thought that the bird was watching her.

_Don't be ridiculous…Birds don't spy on school girls! _Tabitha tried to convince herself. She decided to look away. She reached in to her bag and took hold of her ipod, playing her top rated playlist. After a few moments, she was calm once again. She listened to the unknown band 'The weird sisters'. She just happened to come across their stuff in the internet, and she came to love them. Tabitha didn't understand why nobody else seemed to know them; all of their songs were amazing. Especially their new song 'My love potion'

Sure the lyrics were often weird, and they have a habit of saying weird things like 'dancing like muggles in the rain' but other than that, Tabitha considered them one of the best bands she's ever come across.

Tabitha was able to relax for a few moments until the bus came. She got up and stood right next to the pole. The bus stopped right in front of her. She was about to move back when she saw her reflection on the bus door. Standing behind her was the silver haired man.

Tabitha spun around and just gaped at the man. He wasn't there a moment ago. _How the hell did he get there so fast?_ She wondered incredulously.

The bus driver swung the door open; Tabitha shook her head and got on the bus. She swiped her concession card and sat at the very back of the empty bus.

The man sat near the front with his back to Tabitha so she was able to scrutinize his appearance. She was surprised when she noticed that her initial judgment of his clothing had been wrong, she had thought that he was wearing a metallic blue coat, but from what Tabitha could see, it wasn't a coat at all, it was a _cloak; A gigantic baggy cloak during such a hot weather. _

Tabitha was mystified over the surreal man. It was as though he had walked right out of a Peter Jackson fantasy film.

She started picking on her finger nails, and then began nibbling on it. Tabitha stopped herself. She looked at her totaled nails and put it down. _Old habits die hard, _she thought to herself.

She looked at the strange man once again and shook her head. _I really need to mind my own business, _she scolded herself. Tabitha looked out the window and drifted off in to one of her little fantasies once again.

* * *

**x-x-x**

* * *

Tabitha wasn't sure of it before, but she was sure now. The silver haired man was following her home. There was a long stretch of pavement between the bus stop and her house. She could see him from the corner of her eyes.

The metallic material of his blue cloak shone under the sun, radiating all kinds of color off the pavement. Tabitha's heart began its crazy rhythm once again. She picked up her pace, walking as fast as her feet would let her.

But it was as though the man knew her pace was quickening. She could hear his light footsteps on the pavement.

Tabitha couldn't take it anymore; she broke out in to a sprint, panting heavily as she ran out of breath.

She crossed her lawn and went straight for their door, accidentally trampling all over her mother's daisies. She banged on the door, forgetting the key she had on her pocket. Her mother came rushing down the stairs and opened the door for her.

"Mum!" Tabitha exclaimed. "Someone is following me!" she said breathlessly. Sally looked behind her daughter and frowned.

"Sweetheart, I think you'd better get inside, your father is waiting for you. We have something to tell you" she said hastily. Tabitha's eyebrows furrowed. _Dad was home? _She thought to herself, surprised. Tabitha's father often came home late from work. Sometimes they don't even see each other all day.

"But Mum, I swear this weird guy was following me!" she said, turning around. Tabitha's mouth opened in shock. Nobody was there, except for a small raven. Tabitha looked at the bird, and the bird looked back at Tabitha.

"I swear that bird is following me!" she said incredulously, pointing at the innocent bird accusingly. Sally Adams took one look at the bird and made a tutting noise.

"Oh dear, you had better come in" she said, ushering her daughter in. Then she looked behind Tabitha at the bird. "You too Aberforth" she said to someone behind Tabitha.

Tabitha turned around in confusion. One minute she was looking at a black raven, the next moment she was staring at a fully grown man with silver hair and electric blue eyes.

* * *

**note:** love it or hate it? review!!!!

For those of you getting confused, the prologue was set around the 7th book, and the family in it are OC's, you wont see familiar characters until later on in the story. Tabitha should be around the same age as Teddy (Tonks and Lupin's son). Tabitha has special circumstances (you'll see later). In this chapter Tabitha is 15 years of age. This story will be focused on Tabitha's first year at hogwarts.


	3. Chapter 2 Unread Letter

**Author's note: LOL isn't anybody interested on this story at all? Urgh who cared, i actually like writing this. It's a change from the usual full on romance that i write. Anyway i dedicate this chapter to **nairiefairie and margaritama, the only people who reviewed it. Thanks guys!

**Chapter 2**

**Unread letter**

Tabitha's mouth went dry. She could have sworn that the man just turned in to a raven, or a raven just turned in to a man. Tabitha's mind was doing flip flops as she tried to comprehend what just happened.

"Are you insane?!" Sally whispered furiously at Aberforth. "What if the neighbours saw you?!" she exclaimed, ushering both Aberforth and Tabitha inside the house.

Tabitha looked from her mother to the silver haired man, her brain coming close to explosion.

"Do you know each other?" she asked, confused. Her mother looked at her for a few moments just outside the kitchen, and then she looked at the man. "Oh dear, I knew the truth was going to come out one day, I just didn't realize it would blow up on our faces" she said worriedly.

Tabitha looked at her mother as though she had lost her mind. "What truth?" Tabitha pushed. But her mother ignored her this time. Sally walked inside the kitchen with Tabitha and Aberforth in tow.

Robert was sitting on the kitchen stool, deep in his own thoughts. His blonde hair was in messy disarray as though he had kept running his fingers through the silky locks.

"Daddy, what's going on?" Tabitha asked her father. Robert looked at his daughter, and then at his wife. He got up on his feet and laid his hands on Tabitha's shoulders.

"Tabitha, I think you'd better sit down" he said gently, pushing his daughter on to the tall stool. He looked at Aberforth then smiled, "Long time no see my friend" he said in a deep voice. Tabitha looked at the two of them curiously. The man named Aberforth smiled and the two men embraced each other like old friends.

Tabitha raised her eyebrows. "Okay, what the hell is going on here?" Tabitha demanded, looking at both of her parents and the stranger. "Tha-That…That bird-man has been following me since this morning! I saw him during class, then at the bus stop! He even rode the same bus as me!" she stuttered furiously, Tabitha hated being kept in the dark. She noticed the glare her mother sent to the silver haired man.

"Sweetheart, I think you'd better make us some tea. And you need to relax young lady" Robert said rationally to his agitated daughter.

"Uh, how about no? You're pretty much playing nice with a stalker! What's up with that?" Tabitha said, giving her father an odd look.

Sally sighed and sat on the stool on the other side of Tabitha. "Tabby, Aberforth is not a stalker" Sally started slowly, putting her hand on Tabitha's shoulders.

"Like hell he isn't!" Tabitha said heatedly, now convinced that her parents had lost their minds.

"No he's not" Robert spoke up but Tabitha wasn't listening.

"As if dad! I mean what do you call a man who follows you all day? Wait…Did I say a man? I meant a raven! And don't get me started about his get up" Tabitha blabbed on and on about Aberforth, meanwhile her parents were starting to get a headache.

"I mean he's a little weird-" Tabitha went off, but her father cut her off.

"Tabitha, Aberforth is your godfather" Robert said in an exhausted voice.

"Say what?" she said, but there was an awkward silence in the air. Aberforth chose that moment to clear his throat.

Sally looked at her daughter nervously.

"Aberforth is your godfather. He always has been" she said, smiling brightly although it looked a little strained.

Tabitha narrowed her eyes at her parents. "Are you telling me that my godfather is a bird?" she said in a low voice. According to Tabitha, there were many levels of ridiculousness; her parent's announcement was way high up on the shelf.

"No sweetie, he's totally human…just like us" Sally said reassuringly, however Aberforth snorted. Tabitha looked at him with narrowed eyes.

Sally looked a little beat, "Okay, maybe not quiet so normal" she added. Tabitha shook her head; her mind was bursting with one question after another.

Sally looked thoughtful for a moment. "Actually, the whole family is quite…extraordinary" she said cryptically.

"Wait, don't you think we should take this slow? Tabitha looks like she's lost" Aberforth said with kind eyes. Robert and Sally's eyes met for a few moments before they both nodded.

Tabitha watched as her mother got up to turn the kettle on and lay down some cups on the counter. Aberforth stood across from Tabitha. He was staring at Tabitha with such wonder in his eyes. For some odd reason it didn't bother Tabitha one bit.

"The last time I saw you, you were just a baby. Look at you now all grown up" he said tenderly, as though just looking at Tabitha wasn't enough.

"Yes, it's already been fourteen years. How did you recognize her before?" Robert asked his dear friend.

Aberforth smiled wisely, "I would recognize her anywhere, and she looks a lot like Sally from the last time I saw her. Though she still got her posture from your side of the family" he said proudly. Tabitha didn't know what to say, and saying 'Thank you' seemed a little absurd. So she kept quiet.

"Besides, I would recognize a witch if ever I saw one" Aberforth added. Tabitha thought she had misheard what he had said; she could have sworn he had said that she was a witch. The day's events had a distractive effect on her sanity.

Sally poured some tea on the cups and went back to her seat.

"Sweetie, what we have to tell you may come as a shock." She started slowly. Tabitha straightened up. Glad that she was finally going to get some straight answers, although about what, she had no clue.

Sally paused; there was silence in a kitchen as she contemplated on what to say next.

"Have you ever felt like you just don't belong, as though you were meant to be born as someone completely different? Or feel like nobody understands you?" Sally asked her voice soft, and delicate.

Tabitha nodded, not really sure on where her mother was going.

"What does me being a complete loner got to do with anything?" Tabitha asked rather bitterly.

"Well, it's got everything to do with it. Because you see, you're not like anyone else. Although I promise you that your father and I did the best that we could so that you could blend in with the common folks" Sally said seriously, wringing her fingers.

"What are you talking about?" Tabitha said, her heart beat accelerating, so it gave the feeling that it was about to jump out of her throat. "What do you mean you did the best that you could?" she fired.

"You're a witch, Tabitha" Sally blurted out. Tabitha's mouth gaped open.

"I'm a WHAT?" she exclaimed, jumping out of her stool. Sally jumped along with her, while Robert tried to calm her down.

"Yes dear, a witch, not a bad one. You're a good witch" her mother assured her. But Tabitha couldn't hear anything, her mind was swimming with thoughts of ugly women with large hooked noses, and a lot of warts.

"Oh god, am I going to start growing warts on my face?" she asked incredulously. Her brain was going in to shock. Everybody looked slightly offended.

"Tabitha Adams! That's an insult to our kind!" Sally said furiously.

"Now, now Sal; she's just in shock" Aberforth said consolingly.

"Sweetie, look at me" Robert said to his hysterical daughter. Tabitha looked in to her father's dark eyes; eyes that wouldn't have been so dark if he wasn't under such great stress.

"Tabitha, were not going to tell you the truth unless you calm down. Because trust me, this is only the beginning" he said darkly, shaking Tabitha slightly. Tabitha looked at her father fearfully, because for once he looked nothing like the gentle, caring and captivating father Tabitha had come to know and love. She took a deep breath and sat down again and kept her mouth shut.

"Baby, were sorry that we had to keep this from you but it was the only way to keep you safe" Sally said, her voice filled with regret.

"But the truth is, when your father and I got married, the witchcraft and wizarding world was in complete chaos. We had only been married for a whole year when Vol- You-Know-Who came back-" she started saying but Aberforth cut her off.

"You know that you can say his name now, he is gone after all" Aberforth said darkly.

Sally smiled then, "I know, sorry. But old habits die hard" Sally said sheepishly.

"You-know-who is the most evil wizard that's ever walked amongst us. He is otherwise known as Voldemort" she said, a distant memory returning in her mind. Her pain was so obvious to Tabitha that Tabitha couldn't help but hold her mother's hand.

"Voldemort, he did a lot of bad things, terrible things. Your father and I were aurors, we fought against some of his darkest followers that's why we became a prime target when Voldemort came to power" Sally said, her voice injected with so much hatred to the man named Voldemort.

"Many of our friends were murdered during that time. So when I found out that I was pregnant, I thought to myself; there was no way he was going to take away the most important thing to me. So your father and I decided to change our identities. This isn't how we really look like. The only thing that stayed the same was our eyes"

Tabitha took a few moments to think. The realization that she wasn't what she always thought she was brought tears to her eyes. "My whole life has been a lie" she whispered to herself as salty tears trickled down her cheek.

Sally saw the pain in her daughter's eyes and she too began to cry. She embraced her daughter as she continued her story. "During the war, our family lived in harmony. We protected you the best that we could. We even binded your powers so that the death eaters wouldn't sense your powers" she said, looking ashamed of herself. Tabitha noticed that her father was having trouble listening. He looked distant and obscure.

"Then a few months later we heard that Voldemort was defeated. He was gone for life! We couldn't have been happier!" Sally cried, her tears falling freely. "But then…everything had changed. You had become our number one priority" she said in a small voice. "And the thought of you growing up with magic just didn't seem right. We thought, what if in the future you had to face the same thing Robert and I had to face, did we really want that?" she said, her voice growing nervous by the minute.

"I know it was wrong, but I felt that it was the only way we could keep you away from harm. So we kept you in the dark. We didn't unbind your powers. But now…" she said, growing more irritated by the moment, "It's like you undid the enchantment yourself. You shouldn't have powers, yet, you were able to use some sort of ability to get away from that girl" Sally said hastily.

"Wait…Are you telling me that even though the war was already over, you kept me the same way anyway?" Tabitha asked in a dark voice. "And when were you going to tell me about me being a witch?" Tabitha took one look at her mother's face and she snapped.

"You are unbelievable!" she yelled. She jumped off the seat and headed for her bedroom.

"Wait! Tabitha!" Sally called after her. Tabitha spun around furiously at her mother.

"Did it ever occur to you that I may have wanted to live the kind of life you had growing up?" Tabitha said indignantly, her voice shaking with hurt. "You made me believe that I was some kind of loner! Of course those people wouldn't understand me! I don't even know myself in order for other people to get me!" Tabitha said tearfully.

Tabitha stormed up the stairs and slammed the door behind her. No wonder she grew up without any friends. No matter how hard she tried to fit in, it never would have worked out. She was nothing like everyone else.

Sally just watched her daughter walk away. "We should have told her when the letters started arriving from when she was eleven. Robert she's going to hate us forever" Sally said sadly. Robert got up and embraced his wife; he kissed the top of her head, calming her for the moment.

"Its okay sweetheart, we can still work it out. It's not too late. She'll forgive us, she has to" he said smiling charmingly, "We are her parents" he added.

"Lets give her a bit of space, then I suggest one of you go up and show her the letters that should have been opened a long time ago" Aberforth said thoughtfully.

Tabitha's bedroom was messy; there were CD's lying on the floor, and clothes were scattered everywhere. A person couldn't walk across without breaking anything left lying around on the floor. In the middle of all the mess is Tabitha's single bed.

The warm breeze from outside was blowing in through the opened window. Sitting on the window ledge, Tabitha was deep in her own thoughts. _All this time they had known, _she thought bitterly. But despite her dark feelings, she knew she couldn't resent her parents for it.

A part of her life may have been a lie, but her parents had done it for her own benefit. Whoever Lord Voldemort was, Tabitha knew that he must've been a really bad wizard if a lot of people went in hiding because of him.

Tabitha looked out at the large factory buildings. Keysborough was a quiet little suburb just off the main freeway. Tabitha could hear the buzzing of the busy street just beyond the row of buildings within her view.

She looked at her own hands, wondering if she really had magical powers. Whether she could blow up a small town with a small wave of her hand; She didn't really understood how the magical powers worked.

She couldn't help the feeling of relief that came. She was glad that there was an explanation to her weirdness. For years she had tried to figure out why people seemed to run the other way whenever they saw her. Now that she knew the truth, she figured that maybe ordinary folks could sense that there was something wrong with her all along.

Tabitha heard a tap on her bedroom door. She sighed heavily. "Come in" she said. Sally walked inside Tabitha's messy room and stood beside her.

"I'm really sorry baby" she said, giving Tabitha a hug. "We didn't know how to handle the situation at that time. And it seemed like the right thing to do" she said gently, stroking Tabitha's hair.

Tabitha leaned in on her mother and sighed. "Did you miss being a witch?" she asked in a small voice. Sally took Tabitha's chin and forced her to look at her.

"Yeah, more than anything. But it brought about a lot of trouble to us, but not anymore I guess" she sighed, rubbing her daughter's shoulders. "Especially now, Voldemort is gone, and the magical world is at peace again" she said, smiling slightly.

Tabitha nodded, smiling as thoughts of magic entered her mind.

"So…I'm really a witch?" she asked Sally, relaxing this time. Sally smiled and nodded.

"Yes, and with a little training, you could even be as good as your father and myself" she said positively.

Tabitha let go of her mother and looked at her. "Are you going to be training me?" she asked hopefully. Sally smiled at that.

"Me? No" she said, shaking her head. "That's another thing I wanted to talk to you about" she said. The two of them sat on the bed. Tabitha waited for her mother to speak up.

"Well you see, now that you know who you are, and your powers are obviously active, I'm afraid your father and I are going to have to pull you out of your current school" Sally started, looking unsure of herself. Tabitha's eyebrows furrowed, she didn't get why her mother wouldn't just spit it out.

Sally cleared her throat once again, and then paused. But for some unknown reason, Sally just couldn't say it. So she took out the letter that was burning a hole through her pocket and handed it to Tabitha.

Tabitha looked at the yellowish letter, frowning when she realized that it looked like it had aged over the years. It was addressed to Tabitha, written in emerald ink;

_Miss. T. Williamson_

_143 Ridgeback Drive, Second room on the right, level 2_

_Kilsythe, Melbourne 3355_

_Australia_

Tabitha's eyebrows shot up cynically. _What the hell? _She thought to herself. She turned it over and looked at the crest on the seal. She touched the hardened scarlet wax. She was fascinated by the crest; it had a lion, a serpent, a badger, and an eagle. Then there were words that she couldn't comprehend that looked like it was written in Latin just below the letter 'H' in between the animals.

She looked at her mother, took a deep breath then peeled the wax off, breaking the seal. Her hands were shaking as she took the letter written in old parchment from inside the envelope.

_Are you kidding me? This thing is ancient. _She thought to herself. She began reading the letter;

_HOGWARTS SCHOOL OF WITCHCRAFT AND WIZARDRY_

_Headmistress: Minerva McGonagall _

_Dear Miss. Williamson, _

_We are pleased to inform you have acquired a place in Hogwarts school of witchcraft and wizardry. __Please find enclosed a list of all necessary books and equipment. __Term begins on 1 September. We await your owl by no later than 31__st__ of July. _

_Yours sincerely,_

_Aberforth McNally __Deputy Headmaster_

"What. The. Hell" Tabitha drawled. The first thing that popped out was the last name it was addressing. "I think they got it all wrong, I'm T. Adams…not Williamson…" she stammered. She looked at her mother, noticing Sally's discomfort once again.

"Well actually sweetie, Adams isn't our real last name…Williamson is" she said, nodding to the letter. "Your father and I changed the name twice, first to Windsor, then to Adams, when we figured that the threat was gone, we settled with the last name that you have right now" Sally said, smiling uneasily.

Tabitha's head felt like it was going to explode. She didn't know what to make out of everything that just happened. "I'm sure you're just dying to ask some questions" her mother said kindly. Sally bit her lips and looked at her daughter anxiously.

Tabitha did have questions; as a matter of fact she had _tones _of questions. But none of them were registering at that precise moment. So she spat out the first thing that came to her mind. "My godfather is the deputy headmaster? Does that make him a side kick?" she asked stupidly.

Her mother smiled, shaking her head. "No, he's not a sidekick silly. He's kind of like the vice-president or something" Sally said.

"Oh, so he's kind of like what Sarah Palin would have become if what's his face won?" Tabitha didn't know why she was asking such stupid questions, _perhaps I'm just dreaming this whole thing, _she thought hopefully.

"It's McCain sweetie, and I'm pretty sure Aberforth is much better" Sally said, chuckling. That's when the door to Tabitha's room opened.

Aberforth walked in, "Who the bloody hell is Sarah Palin?"

"You don't have to worry yourself, she's just some muggle" said Robert, patting him on the back.

Tabitha opened her mouth to ask what a muggle is, but Aberforth already beat her to the punch; "Common non-magical folk" he said it like he was explaining the alphabet to Tabitha.

Robert looked at his tired daughter, instantly feeling sympathetic.

"I'm guessing you've told her about Hogwarts?" he said, looking at his wife.

"No, she hasn't. Where is it?" Tabitha piped in tiredly.

"It's in Scotland" Robert said, sitting down on the bed beside Tabitha.

"Uhh okay" Tabitha said, until what he said registered.

"SCOTLAND? There is no way! That's halfway around the world!" Tabitha exclaimed to her father. "Besides, there's no way I can make the dead line. It would take ages for the confirmation letter to reach the school, and its way past the deadline! Today is the 25th of August! If that letter is right, then that means school will start in six days!" Tabitha said frenetically, waving her hand around.

Then she looked down at the requirement page. "Where the hell do I even get this stuff? I doubt you can get dragon hide gloves in bloody Target!" she said, her voice rising up.

Robert rolled his eyes at his daughter. He snatched the piece of paper from his daughters hand. "Of course you bloody wont get those ingredient in target. And if you ask me, those bloody muggle shops are way over priced, that ipod of yours would have caused a fortune if I didn't replicate it. You see?" he said, picking up Tabitha's silver ipod, "It runs like the real stuff, and plays like the real stuff" he said, looking proud of what he had done.

"And anyway Tabitha, your forgetting, your godfather is the deputy headmaster. Good old McGonagall already knows that your coming. Every year I come here in hopes that I could persuade these two to let you go. I guess now is the year" Aberforth said as he trudged across Tabitha's messy room, almost tripping over her red converse. He stopped in front of Tabitha's television and pressed the 'on', Aberforth jumped up, thrilled. His face lit up.

"Amazing how muggles entertain themselves" he said, shaking his head and chuckling. Robert grabbed the remote and turned of the television, sighing.

"So you see darl, you don't have to worry about anything at all" Robert said, wrapping his arm around his daughter. But he noticed Tabitha's tense shoulders.

"I don't know…I mean when I go there everybody would know each other, I'm going to stick out like a sore thumb again…" she said, biting her bottom lip. "Then there's the problem with my powers. I don't even know what I did and how I did what I did at school today" she mumbled.

"Oh, that's easy! You teleported without noticing" Aberforth said smiling, he noticed the confused look on Tabitha's face, "It runs in your dad's side of the family. You don't need a portkey at all, its quiet cool really" he chatted.

"What's a portkey?" Tabitha asked.

"Oh, its unobtrusive objects that's been enchanted so that you can travel to your destination without taking a car or something" he said, smiling. "I like how you don't seem to know anything at all. I've never felt like a know-it-all before!" he said enthusiastically. Tabitha gave her mother a _look_ that said _are you sure that he's the deputy headmaster? _Sally just shrugged. Despite Aberforth's childlike behavior, he was actually quite a leader, and his expertise in the dark arts had made him a great Auror once.

"Well, it still doesn't change the fact that I have no idea where to get this stuff, and how the hell am I suppose to go to Scotland? We haven't even booked our plane tickets yet" she said glumly.

"Oh sweetheart, there's other means of transport that would get you there faster than a plane" Robert said reassuringly. Tabitha bit her lips once again doubtfully; if she didn't watch it her lips would start bleeding.

"And about your school stuff, you don't have to worry about it. We are stopping by at London, that's where we are getting it" Sally said, as she rubbed Tabitha's shoulders.

"Look, we probably should get out of your room, its getting a little bit crowded in here. You rest okay? We'll start packing first thing tomorrow, and then we're going to London. Just don't think too much. It's a lot of information to take in one day. It's not everyday you find out you're a witch. So just rest up" her mother said. Sally, Robert and Aberforth all upped and walked out of Tabitha's room, leaving her with her own thoughts.

It took forever for her to fall asleep and when she did, she dreamt of broomsticks and dragons, and witches and wizards wearing black cloaks. For a while she enjoyed her dream until it slowly turned in to a nightmare. She dreamt of an old woman with white hair rotting in a prison somewhere in the middle of a turbulent ocean. In her dream, the woman is holding a mahogany box, there was an inscription written at the front of the box that looked a lot like some kind of dead language, in the middle was an eight armed cross, and around it was a big circle that looped around the arrows, on top of the box was small Egyptian hieroglyphics she couldn't make out. The open was about to open the box, and Tabitha knew that something was very wrong.

_No don't! Don't open it! _She screamed to the old lady, but for some reason the lady couldn't hear her. When the lady is about to open the box, a cloaked man came inside the room. The woman dropped the box and screamed.

When Tabitha woke up, she only remembered bits and pieces of the strange dream.


End file.
